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and have emerged as the principal combatants in a high-dollar race between former nd for the party’s nomination to face in the general election in November.

The Richmond-based electric monopoly and its Charlottesville-based political nemesis have dominated the closing weeks of the primary campaign with a flurry of big campaign contributions, public accusations of undue influence and counterpunches as voters prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday.

“Essentially, it’s kind of a proxy fight,� veteran Richmond political analyst Bob Holsworth said of the escalating primary battle between Jones and Taylor.

Henrico Supervisor Tyrone Nelson, a friend of both candidates who has endorsed Taylor, called the showdown “a war between Dominion and Clean Virginia.�

“The candidates always become a part of it, but really it’s just two entities going at each other,� Nelson said.

The battle is more than symbolic, with the attorney general’s office playing a key role in oversight of monopoly utility rates in Virginia, as the state grapples with how to meet energy demand from the massive growth of power-hungry data centers without undoing a Democratic promise under the Clean Economy Act for protecting the environment and combating climate change.

“Obviously, the future of energy in Virginia has become increasingly important with the growth of data centers, leading people to consider how Virginia is going to meet the power demand,� Holsworth said.

Dominion has made big campaign contributions on both sides of the aisle, with $800,000 to Taylor, including an additional $150,000 first reported on Friday by Virginia Scope, and $475,000 to Miyares, who won statewide office in a Republican sweep that Gov. Glenn Youngkin led in 2021.

The contributions show “how important this election for attorney general is for Dominion,� Holsworth said.

Clean Virginia, founded by an investment management CEO in 2018 to offset political influence by Dominion and other utility monopolies, has spent $1 million through its political action fund, including $575,000 in contributions to Jones’ campaign and nearly a half-million dollars of in-kind donations for advertising and media placements, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

This month alone, Clean Virginia spent almost $300,000 on ad buys and media placements for Jones’ campaign, including a 30-second ad attacking Taylor for accepting big donations from Dominion, while seeking election to an office that plays a key role in State Corporation Commission oversight of the utility.

A group of 14 Democratic elected officials and former office holders — who all have endorsed Jones — followed up with a well-publicized letter to Taylor calling on her to pledge to recuse herself from regulatory cases involving Dominion if she were elected attorney general.

Taylor countered that other prominent Democrats, including former Gov. Ralph Northam, who has endorsed Jones, have accepted campaign money from Dominion without compromising their ability to represent Virginia families.

But her primary argument is her experience, now in her fourth term as commonwealth’s attorney since upsetting Del. Bill Janis, R-Goochland, in 2011 and breaking the long Republican hold on the office.

“I’ve seen her work up close,� said Nelson, who was elected to the Henrico Board of Supervisors the same night. “I know her concern for making sure there’s a balance in our system of law — making sure the law is followed and making sure people’s rights are respected.�

Taylor, 57, is borrowing a page from another former Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney, Jim Gilmore, who campaigned as the state’s “top cop� in winning the 1993 race for attorney general on his way to being elected governor in 1997.

“She’s really running on prosecutorial experience,� said Holsworth, who recalled asking Gilmore during the attorney general’s campaign once whether the job is considered being the state’s top law officer.

He said Gilmore replied, “It will be.�

Taylor is seeking to contrast her experience as a prosecutor in the courtroom against Jones, a trial lawyer for a large international law firm who challenged another Democrat, Attorney General Mark Herring, for the party nomination in 2021. He lost by 13 percentage points in the primary, but easily won re-election to a third term in the House of Delegates that fall. He suddenly resigned the next month, citing the birth of his first child, but promised to return, potentially for another bid to become attorney general.

In response, “what (Jones) has basically tried to say is he has the capacity not only to (do) the job legally, but he has the capacity to take the political steps that need to be taken,� Holsworth said.

Both candidates tout their endorsements. Taylor has the support of both Herring, who served two terms as attorney general before losing to Miyares, and former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, who was the first woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.

Jones, 36, has a long list of endorsements by Democratic elected officials, including two former governors — Northam and Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who lost to Youngkin four years ago. McAuliffe’s wife, Dorothy, campaigned with Jones recently in Northern Virginia, a pivotal battleground in the Democratic primary battle.

He also had the support of his late father, Jerrauld Jones, a former delegate, state director of juvenile justice and Norfolk judge who died on May 31. “Over the last week, after we lost my dad, it has been a very emotional week,� his son said in Falls Church. “It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster, but I know because of what he had done in his life, he would say, ‘Keep going, keep pushing, don’t stop. Let’s bring this thing home.’�

Dorothy McAuliffe called the primary battle “a tough one,� with low voter turnout expected the year after the presidential election.

Speaking after the launch of voter canvassing by campaign volunteers, she also responded to questions about Dominion’s support of Taylor, noting the efforts by President Donald Trump to reverse U.S. commitments to reduce pollution contributing to climate change, including regulation of air emissions from electric power plants.

“We need an attorney general who is going to help us on all of the stuff that is being rolled back on climate that’s going to impact the health, the safety and the future of Virginians,� McAuliffe said.

Holsworth said Jones and Clean Virginia appear to be trying to rally Virginia’s environmental community against Taylor.

“In a low-turnout election, they’re trying to mobilize people who are relatively committed,� he said.

Holsworth said the danger of the primary battle is that it could weaken the eventual Democratic nominee in the general election against Miyares, who has raised a total of $4.6 million, with $2.3 million in cash on hand on June 5. In comparison, Jones had $492,757 in the bank and Taylor $469,816.

“He’s going to begin with an extraordinary financial advantage,� he said of Miyares.

But Nelson said Democrats will field a strong candidate, no matter who wins the primary.

“Two good candidates,� he said. “Two good people.�